US MIDDAY: soya pares losses

US soyabean futures pared losses and briefly traded higher early on Monday after dropping to six-year lows as concerns about the faltering economy in top-importer China fuelled deep sell-offs in commodities and equities. Farm markets rebounded as US stocks staged a dramatic recovery from session lows. Broad selling pressure sank commodities and equities in early trading as investors rushed for the exits after China shares tumbled nearly 9 percent.

“Today’s price action is less about corn or soyabean yield and more about a complete meltdown in global equity markets,” said Kayla Burkhart, a grain broker for CHS SunPrairie in North Dakota. Chicago Board of Trade September soyabeans were down 0.4 percent at $9.02 a bushel by 12:05 pm CDT (1705 GMT) after touching $8.74, the lowest price for a front-month contract since March 2009. Most-active November soyabeans.

were down 0.7 percent at $8.83-1/2 after rising from a contract low of $8.55. CBOT December corn was up 1 percent to $3.81 a bushel. December wheat gained 0.2 percent to $5.05 a bushel, after touching as low as $4.91-1/2.

Aside from updates on the state of China’s economy, the only other news grain traders will pay attention to on Monday is the US Department of Agriculture’s weekly crop condition report, said Karl Setzer, risk management team leader for MaxYield Co-operative in Iowa. Condition ratings for the US corn and soyabean crops, due at 3 pm CDT (2000 GMT), are expected to be unchanged from the previous week after scattered rainfall benefited some fields, analysts polled by Reuters said.

“How we finish today’s session hinges totally on the outside markets and fund attitude,” Setzer said. The impact of the stock market on grain and soyabean prices “should mostly be a short-term issue, said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Illinois-based brokerage Allendale. “The question is whether the traders will go back to trading on grain news tomorrow or next week,” he said.